Replacing customs offices that orbit planets, the Orbital Skyhook is required to extract resources from planets in null security space. It retains the functionality of the customs office, allowing characters to continue using planets for Planetary Industry, while also opening up access to colony resources that were introduced in the Equinox expansion.
- Skyhooks can be attached to all planetary types but only within player-owned sovereign null security space, and only one can be placed in the orbit of each planet.
- A Skyhook has a single reinforcement cycle with similar hit points, resistances, and damage cap to existing Upwell Consortium medium structures such as the Raitaru or Athanor.
- Three distinct colony resources are gained from a planet once a Skyhook is attached to it, in varying amounts depending on the planet type.
Power
Power is provided by the Sun, through the Sovereignty Hub in the system, and by gas, storm, and plasma planets through an Orbital Skyhook. It is used by the Sovereignty Hub to bring online the various upgrades available for the system.
Larger blue suns give the most power, and small white suns give the least power. When a Sovereignty Hub is placed in a solar system, it will passively generate some amount of energy
Power is also provided by gas, storm and plasma Planets that have Orbital Skyhooks attached to them. Power is local to the solar system and cannot be moved to another system.
If a Skyhook producing workforce is destroyed, all power it was supplying is removed from the systems' Sovereignty Hub.
Workforce
Workforce is provided by Barren, Oceanic and Temperate planets that have an Orbital Skyhook attached to them. Each planet gives a varying amount depending on type of planet.
As with Power, Workforce is required to bring online any Sovereignty Hub upgrades installed in the system.
Workforce can be imported and exported between different solar systems that the same alliance controls. This is managed from the Sovereignty Hub control window.
If a Skyhook providing workforce is attacked and killed, all workforce it supplied is removed from the systems' Sovereignty Hub.
Reagents
Reagents are assets that are produced passively by planets that have an Orbital Skyhook attached to them. Reagents start out in an immature state, but over time they will become mature and extractable. This maturation will ramp up in yield over time, effectively creating extractable resources faster.
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Magmatic Gas - Is provided by Lava Planets, and is used to fuel the moon drill on the Metanox Moon Miner, as well as the Cynosural Navigation (Pharolux Cyno Beacon) and Cynosural Suppression (Tenebrex Cyno Jammer)
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Superionic Ice - Is provided by Ice Planets, and is used fuel the Advanced Logistics Network (Ansiblex Jump Gate) and the Supercapital Construction Facilities upgrades
Reagents are the only colony resource that can be stolen. This can be done by linking to the Skyhook Reagent Silo which is present on Skyhooks that are harvesting reagents from Ice and Lava planets. The link becomes available once a Silo has been brought down to 10% Shield HP.
The linking ship must be a combat ship of cruiser size or larger, or one of the new Upwell hauling ships, and the pilot piloting a ship that intends to link to the Reagent Silo must be in the Omega clone state.
Players that are linked to the Skyhook Reagent Silo are unable to warp, use micro jump drives, cloak or tether and their maximum velocity is capped at 1000 m/s.
After a ship has begun to link to the Skyhook Reagent silo, completing the link will take 10 minutes and once initiated will notify players in surrounding systems that a theft is in progress.
Only one ship can link to a Skyhook silo at a time when committing reagent theft.
If reagents are stolen from a Skyhook, the ramped yield will reset and a portion of both immature and mature reagents are placed in a cargo container beside the silo, while all remaining reagents in the Skyhook are destroyed. This makes defending reagent-producing Skyhooks important.
Orbital Skyhooks also attract hostile pirate NPCs just like asteroid belts do. This can make the space around skyhooks dangerous to unprepared ships but also provides more PVE opportunities for clever players.